Monday, October 28, 2013

As you are reading this, 100 Presbyterians are gathering at Ferncliff Camp in Little Rock, Arkansas for the PEC's national conference "Ethical Earth Care: Keeping Creation Sacred." These dedicated stewards of the earth are spending three days learning about creation care as well as taking time to worship the Creator.

One piece of this conference is the presentation of the William Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is named for Bill Gibson who shaped the Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice policy that was adopted by the Presbyterian denomination in 1990.Individuals receive the William Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award and congregations, governing bodies, ecumenical agencies, and Presbyterian-related entities receive Restoring Creation Awards for environmental work that is particularly praise-worthy and innovative.

PEC will honor Rev. David Gill and Solar Under The Sun (SUTS) at its Annual Meeting on October 18 at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center. PEC will present the William Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award to David Gill and the Restoring Creation Award to SUTS.

David Gill, Executive Director of Ferncliff Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center, is an original organizer and Board member of Solar under the Sun. Since 1997, Rev. Gill has steadily led Ferncliff to be one of the most sustainable camp/ conference centers in the country. Under Gill’s leadership and direction, Ferncliff built an entirely new youth camp with geo-thermal for heating/cooling and the recently completed Eco Center that will serve as a center for creation care and the home for the SUTS Solar School. Ferncliff also transports guests around the 1200 acre camp in a 14-passenger solar electric vehicle and uses a truck that runs on cooking oil.

Solar Under the Sun is a Presbyterian-related organization whose mission is to illumine our fellow human beings with hope and life through solar energy. SUTS is a ministry of Synod of the Sun that trains volunteers to design and install solar power systems in partnership with communities that lack reliable electrical power. This organization is now establishing solar at a rate of almost two installations per month. In the past four years, SUTS completed nine training sessions, trained 191 missioners, and conducted 50 solar mission outreaches in three countries: Haiti, Ukraine and Kenya. Chris McRae, Executive Director, will accept the award for Solar Under the Sun.

Since 1997, Presbyterians for Earth Care (PEC) has annually given awards to recognize individuals and organizations for their forward thinking and leadership in caring for God's creation.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

My name is Tricia Bruckbauer and I am the new PEC Coordinator for this year, so I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself.

I am from a small town in Washington State right near Mt. Rainier. I just graduated from Gonzaga University in May where I majored in Communications and minored in Sociology and Religious Studies. I enjoy traveling, baking, Gonzaga basketball, board games, and am a self-proclaimed National Park “junkie”. My parents are both from Montana so between Big Sky Country, Mt. Rainier National Park in my backyard, and a minivan, I was fortunate to be able to see a lot of the country’s wild places growing up.

I moved to the other Washington in August as a part of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps. My placement for the year is with Creation Justice Ministries (CJM), and part of that position includes coordinating the efforts of PEC. As Coordinator, I am managing PEC’s website, social media, email accounts, and mailings as well as doing other administrative work. Alongside PEC, the main focus of my time with CJM will be public lands issues and matters of preserving God’s creation. Growing up in the West, I have come to appreciate wilderness and what it does for the mind, body, and soul. I am very passionate about land conservation and making sure that the areas we enjoy today will be around for future generations to enjoy tomorrow.

I was raised in the Lutheran Church and stewardship of the land has always been part of my understanding of how I interact with nature. I am looking forward to working with people just as passionate about Creation as I am as we address the multitude of environmental issues that plague our cities, states, country and planet. Just in my first few weeks on the job, I have experienced the love that PEC members have for the earth and have admired the hard work and determination that is invaluable to the environmental movement. As people of faith, we have a vital role to play in restoring, caring for, and preserving God’s creation and I look forward to joining you in this journey.

Blessings,Tricia

Holy One,

We thank you the gift of this passionate woman who has come to keep us focused, decent, and orderly. We pray that she will find expansive time to explore her gifts and passions over this coming year. Bless us as we seek to know and nurture this young woman and her four-footed companion. May we, together, seek to amend how we have been in this world. Let us find better ways of journeying with your creation.